Tim Bresnan: Confidence is high in England camp

History is against the tourists, who have won just 13 out 40 ODIs away to India and claimed their only series triumph in 1984-85.

Indeed, the last two series between the sides in India have ended in 5-0 whitewashes for the hosts — but Bresnan sees reason for cheer in England’s efforts before Christmas.

A 2-1 victory in the Test series saw England reverse an equally daunting record in that format, before a battling display in the final match of the trip saw them square the Twenty20 series 1-1.

Speaking after the first training session under new limited-overs coach Ashley Giles, Bresnan said: “We definitely go in with a lot of confidence.

“We won the Test series and then the Twenty20 win at the end, just before Christmas, was a massive confidence boost. If we can play similar cricket to that in a longer format then we shouldn’t have a problem.”

Despite his optimism, Bresnan does not expect India to make life easy.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side are coming under strong criticism locally after losing consecutive one-day matches to fierce rivals Pakistan, but Bresnan anticipates a response.

“India are a good side, make no bones about that,” he continued.

“Each and every international team has a dip in form but they can come back very strong and very quickly.

“We are expecting a stern test.”